Draconic's fanfic Recommendations

To start with, you'll need some tools:

Nippers: Every gunpla/plamo modeller's best friend. (Also WTF I got these for $12.99 CAD, what the hell happened? These aren't even made in the U.S.)

If you talk to an experienced modeller, especially of kits from companies like Bandai and Kotobukiya, they’ll tell you that Godhand nippers are probably the best nippers you can get. If you want a clean cut that leaves minimal traces behind on the parts, you might want a single blade nipper. Nippers with a blade on each side will leave traces behind.

This is because no matter how well they’re made, the blades can’t be perfectly aligned past a certain point (or... something like that). So there’s still some residue from cutting. However, there are single blade nippers that are only sharp on one side that can deal with that problem--A practiced hand can shear through the runner in one go and leave nothing behind. It's not nearly as easy as it sounds, though. Most people just use sanding sponges to remove traces from the runners afterwards.

I'll demonstrate here:

These are called runners, or trays. These ones are from the Peridot model I used to construct most of Taylor's body. She comes with a pair of giant scalpels and two colossal syringes. These are for one of the scalpels.

You see how these trays are mostly comprised of these cylindrical plastic runners? There are also thinner parts where they're closer to the material. Well, when you clip a piece off, best practice is to start by leaving a fair bit of extra material on the piece. These are generally called nubs, or nibs. Then, once the piece is free of the rest of the runner, you can clip the nibs off with more precision than you’d have while holding the whole tray. I didn’t understand this when I was starting out, and that’s why… I have all these really obvious clipper marks on my first builds.

So back to the nippers. The problem is that the more precise and the sharper your nippers are, the more precise you have to be. Only a shoddy craftsman blames his tools, and that holds very true for this. And my hands tremble. Uncontrollably. What’s more, the sharper nippers aren’t meant to be used on the runners. Only on the nubs. The runners are too thick, and the blades are too delicate to cut through that much material, so using the expensive nippers on anything but the nubs will gradually weaken the metal, until eventually, they crack.

The blade won’t necessarily snap, mind you. If it cracks around the middle of the blade, a chunk will just break off. Closer to the tip, it’ll snap. Either way, well, I hope you aren’t working in a room with a carpet. You will need to find that piece—it’s a safety hazard.

Anyway, my Stedi nippers aren’t very sharp, but they can clip both the runner and the nibs.

ULTWAT Color Master soft tipped markers For the internal piece of Skitter's mask. I used black and gold. I don't expect you to buy a boxed set for two colors. You can probably find them at your local hobby shop. The packaging looks like this.

Sanding Sponges I’ve also used files that are made of glass, and those are often a ‘one-file-does-it-all’ package. They work really well. But it all depends on the pieces that you’re working with. The glass file wouldn’t have worked on the hair because the shapes are so irregular.

Paints This is a bit more involved. The hair was more challenging than I was expecting. Sounds silly. It’s black. One color, right? Well, me being a novice painter, I was expecting to only have to spray the parts with my black semi-gloss and yay, done.

Nope.

I needed primer first. So that took me one hour, and then a day to set.

Then I paint it black.

Then I finish it with a clear outer coat. Except I didn't do that because I couldn't get the right product.

I know I’m stating the obvious to some people, but there’s a point to all this work. The primer covers the base color with a layer that makes the paint adhere to the surface better.

Then you can paint it.

I don’t know what happens if you don’t use primer, but whatever it is, I’m going to find out eventually by disassembling these hair pieces, because there were a few spots on the inside that I missed while priming them.

Acrylic paints dry pretty fast, especially from an airbrush. I’m talking, like, seconds, so yeah, very effective. Even so, they give off fumes for a while, so if you’re going to paint, leave the pieces outside if at all possible. This is very important.

Do not paint in an unventilated area. And especially not with an airbrush, if you have that kind of money to throw around. Inhaling lacquer or acrylic fumes won’t kill you or knock you out like inhaling ammonia, but they’re not good for you.

As for the process and the products, this is less straightforward. I lucked out by finding a place that let me rent an airbrush by the hour. I can do that twenty-five times before sunk-cost fallacy sets in, and even then, I don’t have to do maintenance.

If you don’t live in a big city or have disposable income, you’ll have to do things the old-fashioned way: water and a brush.

It won’t make much of a difference, honestly, especially not for this version. As for paints, there are an entire world of options, and I’m far from being an expert on the subject, but you can find the kind of paints you’ll want at hobby shops. I used gaiacolor paints, but you could go to a place that sells Warhammer minis, and you’ll probably find the kinds of paints you need there. Hobby Lobby is also an option if you live in the U.S.

Just remember the best practices:

Use primer first

Then do a coat of paint in the color you want

Finish by applying a clear coat on top to protect it.

Follow those steps, and your version’s hair won’t end up looking like the one I have, here. God, it’s an injustice, honestly. Taylor’s probably going to come to me in my dreams just to yell at me.

With that out of the way...

I used the japanese site intentionally. You can't actually purchase them from that one unless you already live in Japan, and while I am telling you what I'm using, I'm not trying to advertise here. Here are the sets specific sets I used to create this:

Peridot - Main body Arranged Wigs Long Wavy Hair - Taylor's hair A Koyomi of your choice - Taylor's Glasses + a few books (There are a bunch of different versions) Customized Face & Decal Set Vol. 6 [Designed by AMAAI] - Self explanatory Kuon Yakushiji - Extra faceplates

Don’t just buy them from wherever. If you live in a big city, you might have multiple options, and if you don’t, there are still a lot of websites. Every now and then, these things go on sale for a literal steal. Also, if possible, save up so that you can make a large purchase to save on shipping—or if you’re ordering from Japan, to justify it. I’m not kidding. Overseas shipping is expensive, so pick those options only if you have a lot of money, or would be paying for shipping anyway.

Waterslide Decals, a.k.a. Hell With Water

Now, a note about the waterslide decals! If this is your first time using them—and it probably will be—they aren’t too expensive, especially if you live in the U.S. (I think?), so just a word of friendly advice: Buy extra packs. They aren’t easy to use. They want extreme precision, and unless you have exceptional hand-eye coordination, incredibly steady hands, and lots of patience, you’re going to screw up. You’re going to screw up a lot. You’re going to screw up more than I do in long-term social engagements. You’ll want those duplicates. And you'll want to watch a tutorial, while you’re at it. You can find dozens all over YouTube.

Practice Materials

Don't want to jump right into doing Taylor Hebert? No worries. There's a whole world of plamo to explore. And if you want to do something Worm themed, there are a bunch of gundams that appear in fanfics. Mostly Trailblazer by 3ndless. My recommendation would be to start with HG Exia. It's very beginner friendly, even without any English in the instructions.

Finally, a preview for what’s in store:

I just need some blue metallic tape and I’ll be in business. You have one guess for who this is turning into:

The first issue is that having used an airbrush, I used an incredibly small amount of paint. And by small amount, I mean less than you could fit inside a thumbtack. The trouble arose from the fact that I couldn't get a clear finisher to protect the color from getting damaged. You can see the problem, especially in the images where I used the camera flash. The calluses on my hands were enough to scrape the paint off of her hair. Luckily, out of everything, it's the least expensive.

I didn't put too much effort into the legs. They're going to get replaced in a few months, so there's no issue.

Last, the mask doesn't fit quite right against the hair piece's 'jaw' piece, which I wasn't expecting at all, since Megalomaria faceplates tend to fit together with most Sousai Shojo Teien faceplates.

Beyond that, everything has turned out really well!

Zero Body Language:

Hero Complex:

I haven't applied everything I want to implement just yet, primarily facial decals to get more accurate facial details, and very importantly, I still need her glasses, but those are expensive if I don't want to risk mucking up the paint job.

The hair is going to be replaced entirely once I can get the topcoat I need. Beyond that, I think this turned out better than I was expecting for my first go at it. And yes, I will be improving her.

Maskless:

Injured:

So, yeah, that's my Skitter prototype, to be improved.

I'm about to give the waterslide decals another shot. I want at least a few faceplates to be ready. I just have to pray that I do a better job than I did last time. Applying these decals has a sharp and unforgiving learning curve. Fortunately, I have more than I need, and can practice a few times before I actually do it. Getting them off is actually not that hard, even after they dry. I have a tool to stop that from happening.

I have three more of these boxes to fill, and then I'll be ready for the construction phase. In total, there are something in the range of 120 pieces in this kit. Nothing compared to a Lego set or even a jigsaw puzzle, but with the clipping, cleaning, painting, etc. it takes as long as or longer than either.

Also, a lot more durable.

Not everything is going to be clipped out of their runners. Hands, and a few accessories from other kits, will be done from start to finish on-camera. Again, I will be streaming the construction here on Saturday, April 4th, at 12:00pm EST. Put it in your calendars! (Or don't. I can't tell you what to do.)

The hair looks good, no? It's not quite as curly as I'd like, but as I mentioned, curly hair doesn't render well in plastic, and this was the best wavy piece on the market for this brand. Nothing but the best for our buggy treasure. That said, it's not actually finished yet. We're between production releases for the brand of plamo kit paints that I've been using, so I can't get the clear gloss I want for the protective topcoat. Since I'll be hosting my assembly before then—whenever it is—I'll actually be disassembling the hair immediately afterwards.

Can anyone guess at what those big red pieces are going to become?

If you're seeing this for the first time, or if you're excited, curious, or possibly annoyed because you actually have more experience than me in this field and are compelled to tell me I'm doing everything wrong, you can find more information about what I'm doing here:

Parahumans Action Figures — Teaser

Parahumans Action Figures — Project Announcement

Parahumans Action Figures — Skitter (planning stage)

Peridot is a figure from a series of models called Megalomaria. They’re highly posable not-quite-human figures that tend to be paired with another series. Schoolgirls for the most part, and the Megalomaria figures are, as close as I can figure it, basically their Stands, a la JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure.

The mask in the first post is Peridot’s with the interior repainted.

I will also be live-streaming the assembly of the figure on Saturday, April 4th, at 12:00pm EST, over on my Twitch account.

Which still exists, so neat.

What you'll get to see:

Taylor rendered in moderately accurate anime-style plastic with at least five different expressions, as well as her masked face.

The results of my first airbrushing attempt, which hopefully won’t turn out horribly.

A sneak peek into the next figure I’m going to do, and for those of you know know me, it’s exactly who you expect.

You will not, however be seeing the painting process for the hair (that will take two more days at a minimum), or the application of waterslide decals (each one can take anywhere between sixteen seconds to three hours).

The clipping and sanding of most of the pieces will also be done beforehand. That would get boring fast, so most of what you'll be seeing will be simple assembly.

However, you'll be able to watch the Skitter Mk. 1 figure assembled to completion. And yes, there will be a Mk. 2, because I’ll be acquiring a new set with more accurate legs in September.

WORM action figures.

Yep. You read that correctly.

I already have several of the sets that I’ll need, and the image from the previous Tumblr post was, in fact, my prototype for Taylor’s mask. But the nice thing about Kotobukiya’s products is that they have a lot of interchangeable parts. Including pieces called ‘faceplates.’ Skitter will be able to take off her mask. I have decals and blank faces currently in transit. Mostly for Taylor, but I saw some eyes that were beyond perfect for Lisa, even though she’s proving to be something of a challenge. Virtually all the girl models have bare shoulders and bare thighs, unless I'm willing to make her shorter than Taylor which would just be inaccurate.

Yeah, the figures are going to be anime-style. It's by necessity, and to my knowledge, there's no way around it: No one makes western superhero model kits for less than $100.00 CA a pop, and the ones that do exist don’t come with swappable faces or hair. The upside to this is that I can give Taylor just about any expression you can think of.

Unfortunately, Tattletale is going on indefinite hiatus because catsuits are not in style in Japan, apparently. But I can combine two inexpensive kits to make Gallant, and use the same Kamen Rider kit for Grue and Clockblocker, though they’ll both need to be repainted.